The Truth Shall Set You Free

If the PUP is not united and determined and hungry going into the next general elections, the United Democratic Party will likely be returned to a fourth term in office. It’s as simple as that. If the PUP cannot get its act together, with major players restraining themselves from behaving like kindergarten children, the UDP will make history, AGAIN. That will likely signal the destruction of the PUP, and certainly signal another term of unchecked corruption, greed, victimization, poverty, rising costs and economic disaster.
What must be understood, quite clearly, is that this would be a disservice to the tens of thousands of supporters who believe in the PUP. It is not about those who would be Ministers. This is about the Belizeans who are currently going through a terrible time in this country under the inexplicably inept management of Dean Oliver Barrow and his goons. When the PUP loses an election, it is really our supporters who suffer. That is the truth.
Actually, under this administration, all normal Belizeans are in the same boat, even the normal Belizeans who support the UDP. It is only the very privileged cronies who have enjoyed and continue to enjoy the spoils of electoral war – persons like Juliet Thimbriel who just a few years ago had nothing, and is now a millionaire in her own right with properties and assets all over the country.
It hurts all of us, supporters, when there is disunity within the Party. We expect more from those who would serve us. We expect them to put us first. We expect them to understand that for the PUP to right this floundering ship of state, they must first take control of the ship. We expect maturity from those who would be our leaders. We expect that the interests of the country and the people will come first. We do not expect petty, childish bickering or grandstanding. We do not expect hidden or overt personal and political agendas. We do not expect any of those who would lead us to think that the Party, through some magical transfer, belongs to them. We do not expect attacks against our own by our own.
We demand an end to corruption and personal enrichment at the expense of us taxpayers. We demand that the systems which would govern us well be put in place and enforced. We demand a return to integrity and honesty, accountability and transparency. We demand that the discretion of Ministers be limited and we demand that our rights be respected. We demand a good government of leaders who understand that they are put there to do good and do right, and not to gorge themselves on the public coffers. We demand inclusion in the decisions which affect us. The decisions made by this current administration have indebted all of us, and generations to come, and it was done without our sanction.
The people are crying out for a good government, a strong government, an able government. At this point nobody is expecting perfection. That is a fallacy. But please, we need leaders we can trust to do the right thing and to govern responsibly. That is all. The PUP will need to convince Belizeans that it is all that and can do all that. But it becomes difficult when the Party has to fight attacks from within and without.
The UDP has never quite mastered the art of being a good, responsible government. But the Party has learned how to win elections by fair means or foul, using any and all means necessary to achieve that objective. In 2012 the UDP stole the election by using operatives in the Immigration Department and Elections and Boundaries Department. In 2015, the UDP bought the election by utilizing many millions in Petrocaribe dollars. Whenever the next elections are called – in 2018 or 2019 or 2020, the UDP will pull out all the stops. The redivisioning exercise will be geared in every way at helping the UDP to win because all entities involved will be controlled and directed by the UDP. The UDP is greedy and hungry to hold on to power because those in leadership have tapped into untold wealth and power. It has become the ultimate aphrodisiac for the wicked in their midst.
The PUP could and would do better for the country and people. The current leadership has committed to a process of governance reform which would see real systems put in place. There is a common resolve within the Party to never betray the trust of the Belizean people again, and a determination to return decency to politics. This party, which has never won an election since 2003, has the collective intellect, savvy and experience to get the job done right. Now it needs the collective will to unite and fight the enemy of the people and country, the UDP.
We, the supporters and warriors of the People’s United Party, call on our leaders to remember us, and to hold us, all Belizeans and country at heart. We call on our leaders to remember that we who stand behind the party through thick and thin bear the burden of that unselfish support when the UDP is in power. It is we who cannot access a piece of land or indeed any assistance from a government which only services the few in its inner circle. We need you, our leaders, to stand strong and keep the faith and band together as brothers to save our country and people.
Remember us. Remember the good fight. And do the right thing.